TRANMERE are taking a careful, softly softly approach with Dale Jennings as they guide the talented teenager through the early months of his exposure to senior football.

Some of Jennings’ performances since breaking into the Rovers first-team in September have been so exciting that dozens of scouts from Premier League and Championship clubs found their way to Prenton Park to check him out.

The 17-year-old’s electric pace, ability to go past defenders on either side, shoot with either foot and play perceptive passes mark him as a prospect of exciting potential. His tendency to lose possession in sensitive positions and fall over when challenged are reminders of his youth and inexperience.

Manager Les Parry has fielded unofficial enquiries from a number of managers and the clubs keeping Jennings performances under surveillance include Everton, Liverpool, Bolton, Sunderland, Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough and Watford.

Parry and the Rovers coaching staff are doing their best to keep Jennings focused on playing and how to cope with those days when everything doesn’t go right.

Parry said: “Dale Šis a lad of 17 who has bounced into senior football over the last few months.ŠLads like that need help, need nurturing and need to be taken out of the team at the right time.

“Through his short career, Dale has sometimes become a little bit frustrated when things are not going for him. It is something we have recognised since he was 16.

“He’s always been a talent but he has always been a player with the potential to go out of the game. It’s something we have discussed.”

Parry added: “The same thing happens with a lot of young players. Ash Taylor started very well when he first came into our team. But opponents learn about them and make things more difficult for them. Their form can take a dip.

“I thought about resting Dale for our Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game against Huddersfield. We decided to start with him because we felt he might have produced something that would help us get through to the next round.

“But it’s something we are paying attention to.”

Parry says Jennings is being encouraged to play his natural game. “We tell him to enjoy himself,” Parry said. “We say, don’t be uptight and just do the things you are good at.”

However, the Tranmere coaching staff want Jennings to address a tendency to fall to the ground when challenged. “I think Dale needs to stay on his feet more,” Parry said. “It’s a part of his game he needs to work on.”

Parry and his coaching staff have kept Jennings away from the media spotlight, leaving the Liverpool-born youngster to do his talking with his feet.

Head of youth Shaun Garnett, who worked with Jennings throughout his development with Tranmere, believes the approach is the right one. Garnett said: “It is very important we keep Dale’s feet on the ground and the gaffer has managed that very well.

“Dale has been allowed to concentrate purely on his football and his performances for the first team.

“I think that’s important. I think if you look back, we all learned a lot from Alex Ferguson and how he brought through the likes of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes at Manchester United when they were very young players.

“I think that’s the way to do it. When they are young lads, let them concentrate on the football. The media side of their careers will happen later on.”

Securing the services of a first-team goalkeeper for the second half of the season is a top priority for Tranmere.

Rovers can continue to use Gunnar Nielsen through the hectic Christmas and New Year programme when four League One games are crammed into nine days.

But Nielsen is due to leave Prenton Park on January 4 when the Faroe Islands International’s six-month loan from Manchester City comes to an end.

Parry is weighing up a range of possible options, one of which would be to ask City to extend Nielsen’s loan until the end of the season – if the Premier League giants are prepared to accept financial arrangements similar to those currently in place.

Alternatively, Rovers may attempt to re-sign Peter Gulacsi from Liverpool. The young Hungarian prospect impressed during a two-month-plus Šloan spell while Nielsen was sidelined by injury. But that would depend on Liverpool making Gulacsi available at a time when he may be required for first-team cover at Anfield.

Other keepers are on Tranmere’s shortlist, both as permanent and loan signings. Parry said: “At this moment our priority is sorting out the goalkeeper situation four January. We have four options: keeping Gunnar, re-signing Peter Gulacsi, signing another keeper on loan or signing a goalkeeper on a permanent basis.”

Tranmere were without a match for the second weekend in three after the League One fixture at Swindon Town was called off soon after 9am on Saturday.

Swindon officials had been hopeful the fixture would go ahead on Friday night. The pitch is protected by a frost covers and was playable. But heavy snow in the early hours of Saturday morning made the areas around the County Ground treacherous and the game was called off a safety reasons.